Nigerian president launches reelection bid during a cost-of-living crisis and a fractured opposition

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerian President Bola Tinubu launched his reelection bid Saturday, campaigning at a rally for a second presidential term during a cost-of-living crisis and a fractured opposition.

The presidential election will be held in January against the backdrop of a worsening economy that has caused anger among voters against Tinubu’s government, but which Tinubu blamed on opposition parties.

“I hear my opponents talking about hunger and poverty. Who created it? They did,” he said at a rally in the northwestern state of Kaduna. “They created the hunger, they created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it."

Tinubu is being challenged by over a dozen opposition candidates, but analysts predict a three-man race between Tinubu and the two contenders he defeated in 2023. They are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, or ADC, a serial presidential candidate, and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, or NDC, a former state governor who blew the last race wide open with his mass appeal to Nigeria’s youth.

In 2023, Tinubu scrapped a decades-long government-funded subsidy on gasoline moments after his inauguration as president. The move has been touted as a bold economic reform but it contributed to the naira’s devaluation and widespread hardship.

“We have prosperity and consistency, growth, recovery and opportunity, I assure you. Your prosperity is here. Fuel subsidy is in the past, no more corruption, no more lies,” he said.

Political analyst Majeed Dahiru told The Associated Press that Tinubu’s chances of winning a second term are challenged by public discontent over his economic policies.

“It is a tough one. But one thing is certain that is not going to be a walkover for any of the contending parties at all in this election. It is one that you can’t predict,” he said.

The 2023 presidential election saw Tinubu win with over 8.7 million votes. Abubakar followed with over 6.9 million votes and Obi with 6.1 million, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Although Tinubu won the most votes, he recorded one of the lowest vote percentages ever for an elected president, showing how unpopular he was.

The split opposition could give Tinubu a higher chance of winning in 2027 as was the case in 2023.

Opposition candidates Atiku and Obi, among others, formed an alliance in 2025 to unseat Tinubu, but it collapsed before it took off.